The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-06-01
Talmage on Prohibition.

The Rev. DR.. T. De Witt Talmage, since
his return from two-weeks' tour In the
West, has given his impression Of the work
ings Of prohibition as follows: 81 give as my
deliberate opinion that an honest man cannot
get drink of intoMcants in Kansas or Iowa
l say an honest man. L saw not one intoxi-
Gated man in those States, nor met one on
whose breath was the odor Of rum. No liquor
was sold there. The rum-shops are all closed.
In order to get intoxicating liquor man
must 60 to drug store and take solemn oath
before God that he is sick and requires 1t as
medicine, and there are bnt very few men
who are willing to commit perjury. II the
druggist trif1es with the law and sells to aman
without such assurance, or prove himself an
pharmacy and is put out Of the drug busi-
ness. A clergyman told me that in his city
in Kansas he had seen but two intoxicated
men in fifteen months, and they had rum
jugs they had brought with them from the
East. As our train Of cars started
out Of Kansas City, Mo-, to cross
into Kansas, the porter Of the dining-car
came through and asked the passengers If We
would like to order some beer. What do
sell any beer after we cross into Kansasr I
tell you prohibition does prohibit. And all
the talk you hear to the contrary is dishonest
talk. Moreover, prohibition has come there
to stay. The young men of those States arc
proud to be called Prohibitionists. In their
common schools the children. are taught the
evil influences Of strong drink, and all young
men in Kansas or Iowa are. either Prohibition
lists or loafers. One reason for the present i'm
that there are fewer temptations for young
people. Fathers and mothers have bethought
themselves what grand thing it would be
to rear their families away from the ever
lasting stencil Of rum, with which SO many Of
our cities are accursed. The pauperism, the
crime, the vagrancy Of those States are less
and less Soon their criminal courts will be
disbanded, and their jails will be empty.
State by State prohibition will be adopted,
and then we shall have National prohibition.
The stronger States will help the weaker. Kan
Sas will help New York. The Congressman and
Senators at Washington who are afraid Of
the rum traffic will finally be outvoted by
Congressman and Senators who are not afraid.
The country districts will be heard from, and
they always stand for sobriety. The mighty
dominion Of alcoholism will be broken. The
evil will become so great that an indignant
nation will rise and stamp it out Of existence.
Do not be despondent because the work IS te-
dious and protracted. 1t is considered a great
thing if a rail-train under full headway can
be stopped at distance twice its length. Re-
member that drunkenness with its long train
of disasters has been under full headway for
centuries, and no decided effort has been made
to arrest it until within seventy years. If it
stop within century it will stop in less than
half the length of its rushing and damning
devastations. I interviewed all the reporters,
and all the clergymen, and all the doctors, and
all the merchants, and all the mechanics, and
all the farmers whom met, and the unani-
nous testimony is that in Kansas and Iowa
prohibition prohibits The only way to get q
drink of rum in those States to-day is through
perjury"